Cruelty Free International funds non-animal alternatives in Vietnam

26/03/2013

In Vietnam, animal tests are currently still being carried out for cosmetics However the country is today a step closer to ending this practice as Cruelty Free International, the organisation founded by the BUAV, funds a breakthrough project to enable Vietnamese laboratories to convert to non-animal alternatives.

Vietnam is part of the Association of South East Asian Nations (known as ASEAN), a grouping of 10 South Asian countries including the rapidly-growing emerging countries of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Cosmetics regulations in ASEAN deliberately mirror the EU Cosmetics Directive, but unfortunately without the ban on animal testing.

However, active animal testing for cosmetics only occurs in one country in ASEAN, Vietnam. During an initial visit by Cruelty Free International last year, we reached a landmark agreement in principle with the Vietnamese State testing laboratories to convert to alternative tests for cosmetics.

This week sees the next stage in this exciting project, with a further visit by our Director of Policy, Dr Nick Palmer, to kick-start a detailed scoping study by alternatives experts IIVS (Institute for In Vitro Sciences).

The project is being made possible by a grant from Cruelty Free International, and we hope to follow up with a full training programme later in 2013 which will see Vietnam switch to alternatives. Once cosmetics testing ends in Vietnam, we hope to make rapid progress towards a full ban throughout ASEAN.

Michelle Thew, Chief Executive of Cruelty Free International said, “I am delighted the Vietnamese authorities have responded to our call to move away from using animals to test cosmetics. This collaboration marks a step-change in the country’s reliance on animal testing and represents real progress for animals, bringing us a significant step closer to a ban on animal testing for cosmetics in ASEAN.”